JOSE MOURINHO has revealed why Chelsea and their fellow Premier League teams will always struggle in Europe.

Mourinho has two Champions League titles to his name - with Porto and Inter Milan - but was sacked as Chelsea manager shortly before Christmas after a disastrous start to the defence of his third Premier League title.

The Portuguese boss has yet to return to football although ExpressSport understands he will take over at Manchester United at the end of the season if Louis van Gaal fails to qualify for the Champions League.

But if Mourinho does return to England, he believes he will still struggle to win Europe's premier club competition.

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"Some countries in this moment, it is easier for them," Mourinho told BTSport.

"A team who are champions in February - that team have much more conditions to be successful than a team that are playing until the last match of the season in May."

"I'll give you an example: Two years ago I played Champions League semi-final with Chelsea against Atletico Madrid.

"Two days later I was playing Liverpool v Chelsea at Anfield to decide the champions of England.

"So I would look to a Spanish team - Barcelona, Real Madrid - I would look to a German team - Bayern Munich - and I would say comparing the competitive realities during 10 months [of the compertition], I think they arrive in the key moment of the season in better conditions than other clubs."